All About Handcuffs
by JoeBoBean
Summary: Neal is fed up of Peter always putting handcuffs on him when he "arrests" him on operations. So he requests that he be able to give Peter a taste of his own medicine, but things get a little out of hand. Warning there is a tiny bit of slash.


_AN: I always love the joy on Peter's face when he gets to arrest Neal. So when I ended up in a huge conversation with my best friend at Uni about handcuff and then went home and watched White Collar, I ended up writing this. I like it as its pretty fun. Please enjoy xx._

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"You're under arrest!" Peter's gruff voice said as he closed the cold steel around Neal's wrists and pushed him in to the back of the _Taurus_. "You have the right to remain silent and I'd advise that you use it; as anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be given to you." He then smiled at Neal warmly and asked, "Does the suspect understand his rights?" Neal shook his head in obvious dismay before he replied,

"You really enjoy doing this don't you?" Peter laughed and it was a laugh that was filled with child like glee.

"Well it's not every day that you get to arrest the same man for the… what is it now the seventh time?"

"You love your job too much." Neal said back sighing slightly. Peter got in the front seat and laughed a little harder.

"Well we need you to keep your cover right?" He asked trying his hardest to stop laughing.

"Do you really need to put me in hand cuffs every time?"

"Well it doesn't look like we are arresting you otherwise…" Peter said glancing in the rear view mirror to catch Neal's eye.

"You know that these aren't the most comfortable accessory." He admitted and Peter watched as he moved his arms to show that he was trying to get free.

"Well it looks better than the hat."

"Will you stop picking on the hat?" Neal asked exasperatedly and Peter heard the distinct clink of metal and suddenly Neal was waving at him from the back seat.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked him just a little impressed.

"Months of practice and hours and hours of hard work."

"So I get you out of prison. I give you a badge and as a thank you, you figure out a way to get out of hand cuffs?" Peter's voice dropped a key and Neal knew it was his disapproving father voice, man he felt sorry for any of Peter's children if they toed the line.

"I aim to please." He said with a smile.

"So you keep saying." Peter chuckled as they pulled up in front of the _Federal Building_ "Neal why don't you hand cuff me sometime?" Peter asked as he opened the back door of the _Taurus_ and smiled softly at the other man. "We'll call it an experiment," Neal looked up at Peter nonplussed "Well it may be good for me to see things from the other side for a change." Neal's eyes widened in surprise and Peter stifled a chuckle, "Well El is still in San Francisco for work and I get bored easily in that house on my own. So I don't think that it would be such an awful way to spend my time after working hours."

"Peter Burke you confuse me more and more each day." Neal stated and Peter smiled in reply.

"Don't worry Neal this is a one off. It's not like I'm going to enjoy being hand cuffed by a man." Neal tried and failed to keep his sceptical eyebrows down.

"Don't knock it till you try it," He added with a wink

"You must promise me one thing." Peter said bowing his head slightly,

"It depends on what it is," Neal offered

"No Mozzie; that's all I ask no Mozzie."

"Okay done, just you and me. I can do that; so my place after work tonight?" He asked handing the hand cuffs back to Peter,

"Okay," he replied looking at them before looking at Neal,

"Great," Neal said rubbing his hands together,

"Shouldn't you keep these then?" Peter asked looking at the cuffs again.

"Well if you insist" Neal finished grinning taking the skin warmed steel out of Peter's hand and putting it in his back pocket, "I don't mind if I do."

They walked up the stairs to Neal's loft slowly all the while Peter moaned about how lucky Neal was; and that he seemed to not understand that no one could be as lucky as he was without karma ass whipping them. Neal nodded along listening to Peter's rant and helpfully throwing in a comment or two when it was needed, but otherwise he just let his friend let out his pent up dissatisfaction with how the world worked. If only Peter knew that Neal took none of what he had now been given for granted; he thought the argument would be buried for a while, but Peter was as tenacious as a bulldog and wouldn't be happy for long, mainly because he wouldn't believe Neal. Which hurt a little, he trusted Peter implicitly and wished that once maybe the trust could go both ways, but apparently not. He opened his loft door and walked in keeping it open for Peter as he flipped his hat off and left it on the side with his keys.

"One day I will burn that hat of yours in front of your face to see you cry in anguish." Neal turned his face a little sour, but he quipped back with,

"That will be the day I steal the beautiful Elizabeth from you."

"Won't happen," Peter snapped,

"Exactly!"

"What?" Peter asked lost,

"Not sure, it sounded better in my head."

"Next time keep it in your head okay," Neal nodded mutely. "So are we going to do this thing?" Peter asked his voice unusually nervous, Neal licked his lips, he was going to enjoy this.

"If you want." he replied inching closer to Peter while taking the warm steel out of his back pocket. Peter shuffled backwards in to the table. Neal had never seen him lose his cool so openly and couldn't deny that it was a great view. He watched as Peter's tough exterior cracked a little more with each step that he took towards him, the proud smooth forehead puckered with wrinkles and his steady brown eyes looked around the loft wildly all the while trying to find an escape. Neal felt like a lion stalking his prey and could understand the grin that Peter wore each time he made a collar, the power you possessed over the other person was heady like a drug. Neal thought he could get used to this. For this feeling alone he could leave his old life behind and work side by side with Peter catching people that he used to be like. "Peter Burke you are under arrest, would you please turn around?" Neal asked politely. He thought that was the best approach as Peter had always been so polite, that was one of the things Neal truly liked about Peter. He was always polite even to the worst of criminals until you ticked him off and then you were in for a world of hurt.

"You want to put the cuffs behind me?" Peter asked fear in his endless brown eyes,

"Well isn't that the usual way?" Neal asked, "I think it would be more educational if we did it right don't you agree?" Neal asked trying to cover his sarcasm as it escaped his lips.

"I'll take your word for it Caffrey," Peter said his voice low and dark. Neal knew it was supposed to be angry, but it was more seductive than anything else. Neal knew that it wasn't a good idea to be doing this in the state he was in but he couldn't stop himself. He raised his eyebrows at Peter who nodded like a chastised child and turned around. Neal stepped up behind Peter and took his wrists gently in his wide palms looking in to the neatly cut brown hair at the back of Peter's head. Like everything else about the other man it had been clipped and shaped until it was tamed perfectly. He opened one side of the cuffs and slid it around Peter's wrist just above his watch and felt the satisfaction of tightening the bracelet and hearing the wind and click of the metal grating over one another. Peter stiffened slightly in Neal's grip so he loosened his hold and felt Peter relax, he slid the other wrist in to the other side of the cuff and pulled that together too listening to the sound that he had always heard from behind him and had to grin at the reversal. It was a good feeling being able to dominate another person, he knew he shouldn't enjoy it, but he did so very much.

He leant in to Peter's ear standing on his tiptoes to compensate for the height difference and spoke as softly and as low as possible,

"You have the right to remain silent, as anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law." He stopped for a second mesmerised by the way his breath stirred the short hair next to Peter's ear, he heard the other man gulp loudly and decided to continue, "You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be given to you at no cost at all. I'll admit that he may not do such a good job, but it's comforting right to know that someone is there on your side?" Neal could feel that Peter's breathing had become shallow and he could feel the heightened heart rate thudding though out his whole body.

Then he noticed it the heat of Peter's skin and the clammy nature of his palms as he balled them in to fists and then relaxed them. He could smell the musty scent of cologne mixed with a hard days sweat. The smell stung his nostrils, but he drew it in deep hoping that if he inhaled enough the world would fall away, he wouldn't have to look for Kate's killer anymore, he would be free, he would be Peter's partner and everything would be all right. Peter would trust him and Mozz would give up on his _all suits are bad_ theory. He would sell all the things he stole and would rip up and burn the things he forged. Everything would be all right. Nothing would matter. He would be free of his past. He would be ready for his future.

Neal went quite and Peter stiffened again, he didn't like this at all. He knew that when he arrested people the control he had was one of the best feelings ever. It was a case of having all the puzzle pieces slot in to place. It was a feeling of contentment of peace as if the world had suddenly righted itself after it had been turned upside down. So what if he only worked in the _White Collar_ unit and it wasn't like he was catching terrorists on a daily basis? He knew he was part of the bigger picture and that what he did was good for everyone. He was doing good work just like the guys in the homicide and violent crimes units, but unlike theirs unless he managed to stop a money laundering operation that was somehow supporting some unseen nefarious scheme, he didn't get the publicity the other units did. Neal was the exception as he got Peter in the press all the time, but that was because for a reason that Peter could never understand the other man had a huge fan base and had many obsessed fans.

He still didn't like it though; when Neal was quiet bad things happened. Worse things than when he was being flamboyant and loud. He went to turn his head towards Neal,

"Neal are you okay?" he asked as his head turned to the side he could see the small wave of Neal's foppish hair and then he felt the softest touch of lips on his ear lobe, he panicked he hadn't realised that Neal was so close and the contact seemed far more intimate when Neal was still holding his wrists gently above the hand cuffs. The heated steel fell down to the top of his hands and rang out as the only sound in the loft. Neal didn't move at all he stayed where he was his lips pressed a little more insistently against the soft skin of Peter's ear lobe. "Neal?" Peter asked a little breathlessly moving his head forward a little, that only made it worse the lips moved from his ear lobe to the nape of his neck and he felt the burn of the heat throughout his entire being. It wasn't gentle it was an all consuming fire and he couldn't understand it; he didn't really want to. It wasn't something that Peter wanted to dwell on for too long the only other person who could extract that reaction was Elizabeth and he didn't think it was possible that someone else could manage it, least of all master forger and "alleged" art thief Neal Caffrey. That was something of wonder, confusion and cruellest irony.

Neal dropped Peter's hands but they still remained in the hand cuffs hanging limply as his back as Neal slid his arms around Peter's waist pulling him back in to his smaller and more delicate frame.

"You smell good," he mumbled in to Peter's collar and Peter felt himself blush, it was very unprofessional, but he couldn't help it; Neal had gotten under his skin so when he went to place his lips on his neck again he turned and their lips met. Surprise flashed in Neal's eyes for a second, but he didn't question it. He loosened his grip on Peter so he could turn in to the kiss better. Which to Neal's surprise and happiness he did; he slid his hand in to Peter's jacket pocket and took out the key for the cuffs and then threaded his arms around Peter again all the while managing to keep their lips in contact. He found the locking mechanism for the cuffs and put the key in to them turning it with a gratifying click. The metal fell away from Peter's wrists and as they hit the floor the sound resounded off the walls and was in complete contrast to the quiet between them as Neal's hands ran though Peter's perfect hair and Peter loosened Neal's waist coat and tie.

Neal pressed himself against the taller man and felt the hard muscle beneath his shirt press though the soft and giving cotton. Peter didn't back down he stayed pressed against Neal inch for inch and opened his mouth slightly as Neal ran his tongue along the other man's lips. Neal sighed softly; it was a sound of joy and Peter became momentarily confused. When they broke the kiss Peter could feel his lips were swollen and knew his eyes would look just like Neal's his pupils blown wide with a glassy sheen over them.

"You do trust me," Neal mumbled as he ran a hand through Peter's short hair. Peter turned away slightly his cheeks hot.

"Yeah maybe," Peter admitted looking back at Neal and brushed a thumb slowly over his lips.

"Thank you," Neal said leaning in to Peter again who smiled a smile that Neal never saw often it was a smile of pride,

"You're welcome Neal," He said as he pressed his lips against Neal's again and Neal clasped his face between his long thin fingers; he gently tuned his head to the side to deepen the kiss and suddenly an electronic ring rang out through the apartment. The pair jumped apart as if they were hit with a high voltage power cable.

Peter took his blackberry out of his jacket pocket and put it to his ear while glancing at Neal.

"Burke!" he said gruffly as he answered the phone. He nodded a few times and then he cracked a grin, Neal raised his eyebrows interested in what had put Peter in an even better mood. "You are going to love this!" He said as he put his blackberry away and picked up his hand cuffs from the floor stopping slightly as he attached then to his holster. "Well are you coming?" He asked when he turned towards the door his grin still in place.

"Lead the way," Neal said picking up his hat and flipping it end on end until it was on his head as if he was a seal with a fish. Peter shook his head good naturedly, but said nothing as he walked out the door with Neal close behind him.


End file.
